11-8001 ABM Security Services, Inc., v. Davis

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Civil Procedure
CAFA

It was error for a district court to conclude without explanation that a plaintiff’s attorney’s fees were less than $5,000.

“The district court also failed to satisfactorily explain why it was legally impossible for there to be at least $5,552 in attorneys’ fees in controversy at the time of removal. The district court correctly held that only attorneys’ fees incurred up to the time of removal could be included in the amount in controversy. See Oshana v. Coca-Cola Co., 472 F.3d 506, 512 (7th Cir. 2006). But the court said that because plaintiffs’ counsel had ‘simply filed the Complaint,’ it did not push the amount in controversy past the jurisdictional requirement. Attorneys’ fees are available for work performed prior to filing a complaint, and it is quite plausible that the value of preliminary legal work in a class-action lawsuit exceeds $5,552.”

Reversed and Remanded.

11-8001 ABM Security Services, Inc., v. Davis

Petition for Permission to Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Shadur, J., Sykes, J.

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